Here's a tudung story for you. A Malay graduate of an English university found work with a company in Kuala Lumpur. Just before she finished her first day of work, her boss said, "Do you think you could wear the tudung, tomorrow? We do a lot of work for the government and their officers sometimes drop in unannounced."
She asked why the panel of interviewers failed to mention the compulsory wearing of the tudung, but was met with a stony silence.
This graduate equates the tudung with control, arrogance and deception.
For others, the tudung symbolises liberation, oppression or regression, but one aspect that we ignore, is its use as a political tool, to manipulate the masses.
One G25 member told me, "It was because of Anwar Ibrahim that many Malays in Universiti Malaya had to wear the tudung."
Many friends and relatives also claim that in the 80s, they were forced to wear the tudung at school. Later on, others who worked as government servants, claimed that their chances of promotion improved after they wore the tudung.
I know of many friends and family who remove their tudung as soon as they go overseas. They lead double lives, instead of standing up to their male peers and relatives.
The art of using the tudung as a means of political manipulation continues today. The recent tudung debate has exposed the double standards of our ministers.
Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Noh Omar (photo), has instructed local authorities to withdraw the licences of hotels that prohibit Muslim women employees from wearing the tudung.
Noh said that these hoteliers were acting "contrary to the Federal Constitution and international human rights".
The Tourism Minister, Nazri Aziz, said that he was prepared to revoke the licences of hotels that banned tudung-clad employees because the hotels went against the constitution.
Where in the constitution does it say anything about the tudung? Perhaps, these ministers actually meant, that is the right of each and every Malaysian to exercise his right to religious freedom. Sadly, many Malays do not have this right. For Malaysian Muslims, their religious right is determined even before they are born.
Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, who is the MP for Pasir Salak, accused private companies of marginalising Malays and Muslims.
The Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, Rohani Abdul Karim (photo), claimed that women's rights were being violated. If only she had been as quick to defend women and children, at other times.
The tudung debate started when the executive director of the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), Shamsuddin Bardan, claimed to have received complaints from hotel employees, who were not allowed to wear the tudung at work.
His comments were seized upon by the PAS information chief, Nasrudin Hassan, who complained about the relative silence over the tudung ban compared with the public outrage over the "Muslims-only" launderette.
Nasrudin is wrong. Last year, the Sultan of Johor expressed his displeasure over the Arabisation of Malays who adopt Arab clothing and mannerisms.
Nasrudin is a politician and like all good politicians, must pander to the Muslim masses, especially with the 14th general election (GE14) looming.
Yesterday, the Terengganu MB, Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, joined the bandwagon and instructed the state authorities to act against any hotel that discouraged its Muslim women staff from wearing the tudung. He said, "Our country’s official religion is Islam, and we respect other religions..."
Rights of non-Muslim schoolchildren trampled
Where were these sanctimonious MPs, when the rights of the non-Muslim schoolchildren were trampled on? Non-Muslim schoolchildren being told to eat in the changing rooms because the school canteen is closed for Ramadan. Orang Asli schoolchildren in asrama (hostels) being forced to fast during puasa.
There is a long list of non-Muslims, whose rights have been trampled upon, but these MPs were quiet.
Problems with Muslim workers cannot be attributed to Islamophobia, because Muslim attitudes must also change. These are the experiences of two friends.
A Muslim woman, a lawyer, wore the tudung to work one day and started preaching conservative Islamic values. When she refused to meet her former male clients, she placed the law practice under strain.
In another case, a Muslim supermarket fork-lift driver refused to offload crates of alcohol, causing friction among the over-stretched back-room workers.
Are we being distracted? The recent hotel tudung debate is seen as a religious threat to Muslims, when it is nothing more than a hotel enforcing its own dress code.
In the West, firemen and oilmen are not allowed to grow beards, because they may have to use breathing apparatus. Those who are in front-line food production are not allowed body piercings. Our government departments often breach their own dress codes, by being overzealous because they want to "protect Muslim sensitivities".
These ministers are so predictable. They defend religion and draw upon the constitution, only now, on the approach to GE14. They should be more consistent in their defence of Muslim women. At all times.
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